Montana State University proposes to acquire a transmission electron microscope of high quality and a scanning electron microscope, also of high quality, along with accessories, through the Biomedical Research Support Shared Instrumentation Grant Program. Instruments of this caliber are not readily available to biomedical researchers at MSU. The acquisition of the electron microscopes is very important to the continued development of and maintenance of competitive quality research in the biomedical sciences at MSU. MSU will install these microscopes and accessories in the Plant Virology Laboratory in Leon Johnson Hall which is centrally located on the main campus. It is proposed as a central campus facility which would also be accessible to biomedical researchers throughout the State of Montana. Priority for use would be for researchers at MSU currently supported by NIH competitive grants and others with research projects applicable to the technical requirements of the electron microscopes and accessories. The major user group is comprised of researchers from three different department at MSU with research applications using bacteria, yeast lymphocytes, and neurosecretory cells. Other on campus users propose to use the instruments to study the sexual transmission of barley stripe mosaic virus in barley, effects of pollutants on the cell ultrastructure of plants, TCK smut spore loads on wheat seed, and the effects of kepone on the central nervous system. The projects proposed by the major user group and other users have significant applications to human health. The availability of the electron microscopes and accessories to researchers at MSU and in Montana will facilitate the application of State-of the-art technology to enhance specific on-going research and will provide new technology for the development of future proposals.